


Flattery

by Mischeiefedmarauders



Series: Unfinished Diru stories [4]
Category: Dir en grey
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-18
Updated: 2019-02-18
Packaged: 2019-10-31 04:39:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 17,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17842622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mischeiefedmarauders/pseuds/Mischeiefedmarauders
Summary: A band gets a gig at a venue on Halloween and the requirement is you have to perform as one of your favorite bands. They decide to do Dir En Grey, little do they know they’re actually there that night.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Look guys! Another self-indulgent, crazy fic! Enjoy I guess? Haha.

Five people, two female and three males are sitting in a dressing room, each dressed in one of the more iconic outfits that Dir En Grey wore in the 90’s, with the makeup and hair to match. Some were still working on their hair while others were working on makeup. The door opened and someone came in telling them they had five minutes. They all finished up and stood up gathering in the middle of the room, the female dressed as Kyo holding a bottle of whiskey and five shot glasses. She handed them out and filled each one. 

“We ready?” she asked and they all nodded before clinking the glasses together and taking the shot. They set everything down and headed out to the main stage area, nerves high and adrenaline pumping. They had been invited to play a venue on Halloween dressed and performing their favorite bands. As they got to the side of the stage they were each handed their instruments, each member getting their counterparts as Mode of Adam played on the big screen behind the stage, the lights were out and they started onto the stage one by one. The drummer first, then Kaoru’s counterpart, then Toshiya’s, then Die’s, lastly followed by Kyo’s. Once the video ended the lights came on and the band started to play Child Play. 

In the audience, toward the back by the bar in a back booth all of Dir En Grey sat, amused looks on their faces. 

“Holy shit” said Toshiya leaning more forward, really getting into it. 

“Did we travel back in time? We had to of traveled back in time” said Die with a huge smile on his face. 

“Is the lead singer a chick? Dude! She’s doing your vocals pretty damn well” said Toshiya to Kyo, who was watching everything with a critical eye. He was enjoying it, but he couldn’t help but try and judge and see if they managed to keep it up, though he really didn’t expect anyone to be perfect as them and wouldn’t be pissed if they did mess up a couple time, imitation is the highest form of flattery, as they say and he really was enjoying it. 

They moved through a couple more of their older songs, each one pulling off their parts very well and really getting into it, even throwing in some fanservice between their Die and Kyo. At one point during Tsumi To Batsu, their Kyo walked up and pulled their Die’s head back by the hair during the solo, making her do it without looking, which wasn’t hard and toward the end she was brought down to the other’s level and kissed her deep before letting go of her hair and pulling back before going into the end of the song. The guitarist licked her lips and let out a laugh before continuing the song. This had the audience going crazier and Diru looking even more amused. As they continued they looked as though they were having a lot of fun with it, running around stage and getting the crowd to interact with them and sing along. 

“Alright guys! Last one! Hope you enjoyed!” she said before the band started into The Final. 

“I want to meet them” Said Toshiya getting up. 

“What are you going to do?” asked Kaoru 

“Get backstage and wait for them” he said, making his way up to the stage. Die jumped up then, finishing off his beer and setting it down before following. Kaoru let out a sigh and shook his head before looking to Kyo and Shinya. Shinya just shrugged and stood up as well and followed, he was just as curious about the band as the rest of them. 

“Imagine their faces though” said Kyo joining, Kaoru rolled his eyes but followed everyone else. He really didn’t want to bother them, he was sure they would be tired or maybe they wouldn’t exactly have like that the band that they were performing as actually saw the performance, but he really couldn’t stop his bandmates, especially Toshiya and Die once they got something in their heads. 

The security guy’s recognized the band automatically and let out a small laugh. 

“You are going to make their night” he said as he let them back just as the last bit of the song started, the band and the whole audience singing with them. 

“So I can’t live, so I can’t live, Sou nakushita mono wa....” 

The band became less loud as they were led to their dressing room. They all walked in and took random seats and waited. 

When the band finished the song they each bowed to the audience and threw out picks and drumsticks before heading off the stage and handing off their instruments to the roadies. They each received a towel and a water to which they all drank. Their Kyo walked up to the Die and threw an arm around her shoulders.   
“I didn’t go too crazy with the kiss did I?” she asked and the other laughed. 

“Seriously? How many times have we made out? It’s all good” she said, throwing her arm around her then as they started toward their dressing rooms, the rest of the band following, all in good spirits and pumped on adrenaline. 

Their Die opened the door first and stepped in and stopped when she saw the real band sitting there, her jaw dropped, everyone else doing the same once they realized why she had stopped. 

“Fucking hell” she said before she saw out of the corner of her eye their Karou start to sway and then fall. She was quick and reached out to stop him from falling, though her heels weren’t helping her get any traction and her back foot was slowly slipping. “Uh..Guy’s...A bit of help” she said, starting to really struggle then. Their Toshiya stepped in then and grabbed the other side of him and helped her bring him to the couch in the corner. They finally got him over and down though their Die lost her footing at the last minute and went down hard with a groan. 

“Are you alright? Asked the real Kaoru and she nodded, rubbing her back before she was helped up by their Toshiya. 

“Yea, damn boots lost traction ten years ago” she said with a laugh as she readjusted some of the straps on her legs and the jacket before looking everyone over again, trying to get it through her head who was really standing there. 

“So...You guys are actually here...And...Oh shit!” screamed their Shinya covering his mouth with both of his hands and his eyes going wide. “You saw...You were...You...Oh god” he continued before walking over to a chair and sitting down, his hands dropping into his lap and starting to mess with the frills on his dress. 

“I think what Aki is trying to ask is, did you guys see the show?” asked their Toshiya and the band let out a small laugh then and nodded, which caused Aki to go more pale. 

“You guys did amazing though, it was like watching ourselves, you nailed it” said Toshiya with a smile and the band nodded in agreement. 

“Oh thank god” breathed out Aki as the color started to slowly come back to his face. 

“So, Aki” Die said, pointing to Aki, he looked up, eyes still wide and nodded “And the rest of you?” he asked and they all let out a laugh. 

“I’m Hikari” said their Die “Toshiya is Rei, Kaoru is Hitoshi and Kyo is Yana” she said and they all nodded as the other band waved and smiled. Yana walked up to Hikari then and grabbed her by the shoulders and looked her in the eyes. 

“How are you not freaking out?” she whispered, though it was still heard by everyone “Your idol is standing right there and your acting like this is another day” she said then and Hikari just shrugged and looked over to Die who had a smirk on his face, hearing everything. 

“I guess it hasn’t hit me yet” she said as she took Yana’s hands off of her shoulders. 

“Alright, Rei, come here...I can’t stop myself, I need to check out your outfit” said Toshiya as he approached him, Rei’s eyes went wide but he walked up to Toshiya and allowed the other to look him over, taking random parts of the dress in his hand and checking it out. “These are really good...Did you guys make them?” he asked then moving onto Aki, who stood up then and tried not to blush at all the attention he was getting. 

“Hikari made them” said Yana looking proud. “Though her outfit, and a good portion of your other ones” she pointed to Die at that “She’s had since the late 90’s” she said and Hikari’s face went as red as her hair. 

“Oh really, I think I may have to check them out” he said with a wink and her eyes went wider as she let out a small cough and reached up to play with a bit of her hair, looking away. Die’s eyes caught the tattoo on her hand and he reached out and looked it over. “It keeps going” he said with a small laugh as he looked at the snakeskin tattoo, identical to his, on her hand. She let out a small laugh. 

“It’s a badass tattoo, what can I say?” she said just as Hitoshi sat up with a small scream. 

“Guys!!! Guys!!! It’s Dir En Grey!” he said but everyone just looked at him. 

“Yea...We already figured that out” said Rei. 

“Holy shit...Did I really just pass out?” asked HItoshi and everyone nodded. “Well, that’s embarrassing” he said before standing up and walking up to the band. “It’s nice to meet you guys” he said with a huge smile, it only growing when he realized that Die still had a hold of Hikari’s hand. They both looked down and they both blushed and pulled apart. 

“Sorry” she said before crossing her arms, Die just smiled and turned away to see Shinya giving him a knowing look, to which his eyes went wide before he feigned innocence. 

“As fun as this has been...I feel like we should be heading out, some of us have to work in the morning” said Aki who walked over to his things and started to pack up. Everyone nodded and started to as well. 

“Not everyone” said Hikari with a smile as she tapped Die on the shoulder and asked him to move over a bit so she could get to her things. 

“No job?” asked Kaoru as he watched her take a hair tie and threw her hair up into a messy bun, though it was a bit hard with it being almost down to her butt, but she managed to make it work before gathering her things. 

“Oh no, she has a job, it allows her to work at home and on her terms though” said Hitoshi, rolling his eyes. “Fucking lucky...I work in an office dealing with old ladies that don’t know how a computer works” he said, finishing his things up as well. 

“What do you do?” asked Toshiya to her. 

“I commission art” she said as she finished up her stuff as well. Toshiya’s eyes went wide with excitement. 

“Anything I’ve seen?” he asked then, coming to sit on the counter beside her. 

“Maybe” she said with a smirk. 

“I definitely have to see your work now” he said and her eyes went wide. 

“Really?...You...Want to?” she asked, not really believing what she was hearing. 

“Yea! And I’m sure Daisuke here would love to see you again” he said with a smile as he elbowed Die in the side, which in turn he slapped the bassist upside the head, but didn’t deny the fact either. 

“I mean...If you want...” she said as she turned a bit and opened up another bag and pulled out a flyer and handed it to Toshiya. “I’m having a show at the end of the month if you guys want to attend...All proceeds go to the children’s hospitals” she said. Kaoru leaned over and took the flyer and looked it over. 

“I think we could make it, I’ll talk to management and see about a donation” he said and her eyes went wider as her jaw dropped. 

“Seriously?! Holy fuck! Thanks” she said as she walked over and hugged him. “Even if you can’t make it, it’s still awesome that you will try” she said, realizing what she was doing and she jumped back and put her hands behind her back. “Sorry...I get carried away sometimes” she said with her head bowed and he just let out a laugh and shook his head. 

“It’s fine, really” he said and she just nodded and went back to gathering her things. Die came up beside her then and leaned against the counter on her other side. 

“Even if the rest of the band can’t make it, I’ll be sure to be there at least” he said and she just nodded, still not looking up, the top part of her hair that’s shorter that she couldn’t get into the bun covering her face to hide the blush. 

“Thank you” she said. 

“So,I think we need pictures” said Toshiya, leaning out the door and calling for a random employee to join them. Everyone was surprised but excited as they all gathered together, each person standing either next to or in front of their counterparts. They took a couple pictures on Toshiya’s phone and then a couple of Yana’s phone. 

“Alright, we’re heading out! Thank you for the pictures!...Oh...Practice Monday at noon guys!” said Aki as he left, the other’s following with goodbyes and thank yous for showing up. Yana was last as she ran up to Hikari and hugged her. 

“See you Monday” she said and Hikari hugged back and nodded. 

“We should be heading out too” said Karou as he put the flyer in his pocket before taking out his phone and setting a reminder to talk to management about Hikari’s show. “It was nice meeting you, good job on the performance again” he said with a smile before he walked out, everyone else bowing and following suit. Toshiya jumped off the counter and hugged Hikari before walking out as well. Pretty soon it was just her and Die and she really had to stop herself from freaking out. 

“So, what are you doing tomorrow?” he asked then and her eyes went wide again and she turned to him, not hiding the shock and confusion. 

“Uhm...Nothing I don’t think...Why?” she asked and he smiled and held his phone out to her. 

“Want to get lunch tomorrow?” he asked then and it took everything she had to not pass out. 

“Seriously? Me?” she said and he let out a laugh and grabbed one of her hands and put his phone into it. 

“Seriously, give me your number then text yourself and I’ll get a hold of you tomorrow” he said and she continued to stare a moment before finally breaking herself out of it and wrapping her fingers around his phone and going into his contacts to put her number in before texting herself before handing it back. He took the phone and pushed himself off of the counter. “Thanks, I’ll see you tomorrow” he said as he hugged her. “Drive safe...And good job at the outfits and doing our younger selves justice” he said before leaving. 

When she was sure that he was gone she allowed herself to do a happy dance before sitting down and calming herself. 

The rest of the band were out in the main part of the venue, waiting on Die, who came back with a huge smile on his face. 

“1000 yen Shin” said Toshiya, holding his hand out, to which Shinya rolled his eyes and produced the note and slapped it into the bassists hand. 

“You know...Going after someone who looks like you when you were younger is like, the peak form of vanity and narcissism” said Kyo with a smirk and he just smirked and continued to walk out of the venue. 

Hikari finished gathering her things and threw on a longer jacket and headed out the back door and to a motorcycle. She put her bag in one of the saddlebags and pulled out a helmet and put it on, not seeing Dir En Grey off to the side watching her. 

“Yup...Die’s a gonner” said Toshiya with a smile as she started the bike had headed off. Die shook his head and started toward his car, Toshiya and Kyo following while Karou and Shinya went to Karou’s to head home. 

The next morning Hikari woke up to her phone ringing. She let out a groan and pushed the covers from off of her head, the short part of her hair sticking up all over the place. She reached out and answered without looking at who it was. 

“Hello?” she said, her voice cracking a bit from sleep as she reached over to the bedside table and put on a pair of red glasses. 

“Well, good morning sleeping beauty” said Die on the other end with a laugh. Her eye’s shot open the rest of the way and she sat up with a gasp, looking to her clock to see it was 11am. 

“Holy shit! It wasn’t a dream” she said before slapping her forehead. “Sorry, morning...What’s up?” she asked then, still in disbelief that Die was talking to her over the phone and had called her beautiful. She heard him laugh then. 

“Nope, so...I do believe I asked about lunch today...Are you still up for it?” he asked then and she cleared her throat and nodded, forgetting that she was on the phone. 

“Yea, of course! Uhm...Did you have a place in mind? Did you want to meet somewhere?” she asked then. 

“I didn’t have anything specific, but I’m sure I can come up with something...Where do you live?” he asked then and she told him. “Oh, there’s a lot of cool places around there...How about you text me your address and I’ll meet you at your place about noon?” he asked then and she nodded, before slapping herself again. 

“Sounds good! See you then” she said with a huge smile on her face. 

“Yup, see ya” he said before hanging up, she hung up next and fell back onto her pillows with a groan. 

“Gotta try and be more smooth ‘Kari” she said to herself as she stretched and rolled out of her bed. She went to her closet and pulled out an outfit and went to her bathroom and turned on some music and jumped into a quick shower. 

When she was done she threw her hair into a towel and started to get dressed, wearing black shorts with red and black swirled tights and a black long sleeved shirt. She looked at the clock and saw that she had about twenty minutes before Die would get there, which would give her enough time to dry her hair and do some makeup, or so she thought when she heard a knock on the door a second later. She looked at her phone then and saw that the clock she was looking at had stopped and it was already noon. 

“Fuck” she said as she took the towel off of her hair and threw it down before running down the stairs to get the door. When she opened the door she saw a smiling Die standing there, he took her in though and let out a small laugh. 

“Am I early?” he asked then, checking his phone. 

“No, you're on time, my clock was wrong” she said with a sigh, pushing her glasses back up her nose as she stepped aside and let him in before shutting the door. “I should be about ten minutes, gotta dry my hair” she said and he nodded, taking his boots off and stepping in fully. “You can wait down here or be a creeper and watch me dry my hair” she said with a laugh. “Help yourself to whatever” she said before turning around and going back up the stairs. Die looked around quickly before following her up the stairs. He walked into her room just as he heard a hairdryer turn on. A smile lit up his face though when he took in all of the posters in her room, most of them were of Dir En Grey from the 90’s and some from the early 2000’s along with a couple from X Japan and Loudness as well. He walked to the restroom then and leaned against the door as she flipped her hair back over from being bent over. 

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were a bit obsessed” he said then and caused her to jump a bit and look at him before shaking her head. 

“Just a bit” she said before continuing. Die stepped in then and took the dryer from her hands and started to help dry her hair. 

“I’ve found it’s easier to have someone help” he said, her eyes going wide before they closed, enjoying his hands in her hair. 

“So much easier” she said with a laugh then. “Normally I just let it air dry, but there was no way I was going out there with wet hair and I needed to get all the product out of my hair. Even then Yana usually helps me” she said and Die nodded. 

“Brings me back though” he said and she opened her eyes and looked at him in the mirror before smiling. It didn’t take much longer for her hair to dry. When he set the dryer down Hikari reached out for her brush but Die took it and started to brush it. 

“You seriously don’t have to do that” 

“I know, but I want to, makes me miss my red, and maybe I just like playing with hair” he said with a wink and her breath caught. As Die brushed her hair she grabbed some eyeliner and started to put a thin line on, not really wanting to go too crazy with her makeup, it was only lunch after all. When Die was done he set the brush down and stepped back just as she finished with her eyeliner. She grabbed her glasses and put them back on. 

“Thank you” she said and he smiled. 

“Anytime” he said “Oh!! Now that I have you up here...I do remember Yana mentioning something about more of my outfits?” he said with a smirk and she let out a groan. 

“I am going to kill Yana” she said but she let out a laugh and walked to her closet and opened the door. It was a walk-in. “Help yourself, they’re at the back” she said and his face lit up again and he practically ran in, looking like a kid in a candy store. She walked over to a desk in the corner and booted up her laptop, deciding to get some emails and other things out of the way while Die explored. 

“That was like a trip down memory lane” he said finally as he walked out. Hikari let out a laugh and turned around. 

“Glad I could he...” she said but she was cut off to find that he had changed into a leather tunic with random grey patches sewn over it and some buckles and belts and zippers. 

“I couldn’t resist” he said with a smirk and it took everything she had to not jump up and ravish him. 

“Holy fuck” was all she said, her eyes wide. He let out a laugh and walked up to her, loving her reaction. 

“It’s a bit tight, but it fits, which is crazy” he said, walking over to a full-length mirror and checking himself out. She finally broke out of her stupor and closed her laptop and stood up and walked over to him as well and crossed her arms. 

“Enjoying yourself then?” she asked and he looked at her and smiled. 

“Oh yea, this is great!” he said before grabbing her phone from her hand and pulling her in before taking a picture of both of them before sending it to himself. He gave her her phone back and turned back to the closet to change back into his normal clothes. Hikari smiled and opened her phone to look at the picture and then the one from last night. “I think I’m ready for some lunch now” he said and she turned around and laughed, putting her phone into her pocket. 

They made their way to the entrance way and sat down to put their boots on. 

“Did you want to drive or me? Figured it’d be easier if one person drove” HIkari asked and Die had to stop and think. 

“As long as you have something other than a motorcycle...It’s a bit chilly” he said with a laugh and she finished her buckles. She let out a laugh and stood up. 

“I have an actual car as well” she said as she walked over to the coat rack and pulled a leather jacket on then grabbed her keys and wallet from her bag. 

“Then you can drive” he said and she nodded and led him to a door off to the side that led to a garage. She hit a button and the door opened as she unlocked the car and got in, Die getting in after. 

As she pulled out Die looked around before turning to her. 

“So, what’s your band sound like normally?” he asked then and she smiled and handed him her phone. 

“Go to my music and find Veridian” she said. He took her phone and did as she was told and hit one of the songs and it started to play through the car speakers. He listened for a bit and smiled. 

“I like it, definitely different than us” he said with a laugh. “You're playing rhythm, right?” she let out a laugh then and shook her head and he looked confused. 

“I’m lead normally, but seeing as I know your parts inside and out and kinda look like you I decided I would do Rhythm for the show. Though I’d never pass up an opportunity to play your parts” she said with a shrug. “When I joined Hitoshi was lead but once he heard me play he decided that I should take it instead...Apparently he didn’t like being lead and liked making more noise and filling in so, that’s how that happened” she said and Die nodded. 

“Are you playing any other shows? What about recording?” 

“Uhm...We have a show this Friday, actually, your welcome to come if you want” she said with a smile and he smiled bigger. 

“Of course, I’ll come, gotta see this live” he said, holding up her phone. 

“As for recording we plan on it next month, we’re just practicing now for Friday's show and working through some songs that may go on the album, we’re all up in the air and very indecisive” she said as she turned toward the main downtown area and started to look around at the restaurants. “I think I want some coffee” she said then pulling into a spot in front of a small café. “This fine?” 

“Yea, coffee sounds good actually” he said as they both go out of the car and headed toward the entrance. He jumped in front of her then and opened the door for her and she let out a small laugh and bowed in thanks. 

They headed to the front counter and ordered their food and drinks and before Hikari could get her card out Die pulled his out and gave it to the lady. Hikari glared at him then. 

“What? I said I was taking you out to lunch, of course I’m going to pay” he said with a smile as he took his card back. 

“You don’t have to do that though” she said and he put an arm around her and led her to one of the tables toward the back. 

“I don’t, but I want to, and you’re going to have to get used to it” he said as he sat down, her following. 

“I’m not used to that so, it’ll take a bit for me to get used to it” she said as their drinks were brought out to them. 

“I’m sure I can manage that” he said with a smile as he took a drink. She blushed a bit and took her own drink. “You know, I think I’m going to make it my goal to get you to blush more often, it’s very cute” he added and that ramped it up more. She dropped her head and hid a bit behind her hair. “Yup, adorable” he finished. She cleared her throat and took another drink before she was finally able to calm herself. 

“So, are you guys recording anything at the moment?” 

“Kinda...Kyo has some things he wants to try, I may have some guitar parts, but I have to work them out a bit more though” he said. “But hopefully we’ll have something soon, I’m getting antsy, I wanna either record or perform again” he said with a laugh. “I say that now, but I’ll get halfway through recording or a tour and I’ll want to jump off the first bridge I see” Hikari laughed at that. 

“Yea, I know the feeling. It’s fun at the start, but then Aki gets restless and it’s just not fun for anyone” she said as their food came out. They both bowed their heads and thanked them for the food before digging in, each taking a couple bites before Die spoke again. 

“Have you toured outside of Asia?” 

“Nope, we really only just got ‘big’ about five years ago, we want to though, it seems so interesting, but at the same time I can’t imagine how much everything would cost, what equipment we’d have to rent when we got there because of the amperage difference, getting all of the equipment we can take over there and hope to hell it doesn’t get lost, stolen, or damaged along the way...I don’t know if I want the stress, but at the same time I’m like, fuck it, let’s do it” she said with a laugh and Die nodded. 

“Yea, it’s hectic touring overseas, it’s different, but it’s fun. I would suggest doing it at least once and go from there if you want to do it again” he said before taking another bite, Hikari nodded as well and continued with her food. 

They finished up their food with random conversation in between, Hikari ordering another coffee. She was in the middle of telling a story when her phone rang.   
“Sorry” she said as she pulled it out and looked at the name. She let out a sigh but smiled as she held the phone out a bit and hit the answer button. 

“Oh my god, Takanwa Hikari, where the fuck are you!” Yana’s voice screeched from the other end. Die’s eyebrows shot up as he tried not to laugh, though it had gained a bit of attention from everyone else. She brought the phone back to her ear. 

 

“Yana...You’re causing a scene” she said. 

“Well, where are you! I stopped by to drop something off but you weren’t there, you're never awake before noon the day after a show!” she said and Hikari let out a laugh. 

“Die asked me out to lunch and I accepted” she said. She pulled the phone away from her ear again as Yana let out another screech that could rival a pterodactyl. 

“Die asked you out to lunch?! Bitch! Why didn’t you tell me!!” she screamed and this time Die let out a laugh before looking around and giving everyone a small wave of apology for the interruption. 

“Yana...Inside voice” said Hikari and she finally calmed down. 

“Right! Sorry, I’ll leave you to it. I used your key to drop of the boots, have fun!” she said before hanging up. 

“Sorry, she’s like a child hyped up on sugar sometimes” she said as she put her phone away. 

“It’s all good. So, you're never up before noon after a show, I feel honored” he said with a smug smirk and she rolled her eyes but smiled. 

“I mean, you should be, I value my sleep” she said “But I mean, it’s not every day that your idol asks you to lunch, so...” she said as she took a drink. 

“That is true” he added, reaching over and taking her cup and taking a drink. 

“Oy! Get your own” she said as she reached across the table to take the cup back. 

“Sharing is caring ‘Kari” he said, though he gave her the cup back. 

“Not my coffee” she glared as she took another drink before laughing, not being able to keep a straight face. “And it’s Hikari” she finished. 

“Don’t like nicknames?” he asked and she shrugged. 

“You just stole my coffee, you don’t get to use my nickname” she said and he pouted. 

“Well, looks like that’s something else you’ll have to get used to, ‘Kari” he said and she rolled her eyes but didn’t argue, it actually sounded amazing coming from his lips. Die’s phone went off and he pulled it out of his pocket and looked it over with a sigh. “Looks like I'm going to have to go soon, Karou has a guitar part he wants to run past me” he said and Hikari nodded and finished her coffee and stood up, Die following as they made their way back to her car. 

When they got back to her house she didn’t put the car back in the garage. She got out just as Die walked around and gave her a hug to which she hugged back, trying not to freak out. 

“I had fun, we should do it again” he said as he pulled back and she nodded. “How about Wednesday night for dinner?” he asked and her eyes went wide. 

“Uh, yea sure, I’m sure I don’t have anything going on” she said. “Should I dress fancy or...” 

“I haven’t decided yet, I’ll text you” he said as he leaned in and kissed her on her cheek, which had her breath catching and her eyes going wider. “I’ll see you Wednesday” he said into her ear before pulling back with a smirk and walking to his car with a wave. Hikari stood there for a bit longer after he had pulled out, still in shock about the kiss on her cheek. She reached up and touched it before smiling like an idiot and walking to her front door and stepping in, already trying to plan what she was going to wear Wednesday.


	2. Chapter Two

Wednesday rolled around and that had Hikari in her studio, wearing a pair of ripped jeans and an overly big shirt, both things along with her face and hair were covered in paint. She had her music going full blast as she continued to paint. She was caught off guard however when she heard clapping from behind her. She gasped, spun around quickly and threw the paintbrush in her hand, hitting Die right between the eyes to which he groaned and held his head. Once she realized who it was her eyes went wide and she covered her mouth. He was wearing a pair of nice, fitted black jeans and a white, button-up shirt with a blazer. 

“Shit! Fuck! Oh my god” she said as she walked up to him. “I am so, so sorry...Oh my god” she said as she reached out to him, not thinking about the paint on her hands. He moved his hand and allowed her to take his face and look over where the paintbrush had hit. 

“It’s fine, I should have announced myself....Damn good throw though” he said with a smile. She let out a sigh of relief and she pulled back. 

“It shouldn’t bruise or anything...Better be glad I didn’t have one of my bigger brushes in my hand” she said “Did I lose track of time again?” she asked then, pulling a towel out of her pocket and reached up to wipe the paint off of Die’s cheeks that got there from her grabbing his face. 

“No, I decided to show up early actually, I was hoping to catch you before you got all dolled up” he said with a smile as she put the towel back into her back pocket. 

“Yea, you definitely got that” she said as she took her phone out and checked the time. “Though I actually need to start getting ready” she said as she turned off the music and adjusted a black pair of glasses on her nose. 

“Weren’t your glasses red last time?” he asked and she nodded. 

“These are my painting glasses, they’re a bit older but still do the job, I don’t like wearing my contacts when I paint” she said as she started gathering her things and putting the brushes into a bucket of water and capping her paints. 

“Anything I can do to help?” he asked then and she turned around and handed him the bucket. 

“Could you take this down to the kitchen please? It’s toward the back of the house. Just set it on the counter and I’ll get to it later” she said and he reached out and grabbed it before turning around and doing as he was asked. Once she was cleaned up there, she went to her room and pulled out her outfit for the night. Die had decided on a semi-fancy place for dinner and she was way too excited to show off the dress she picked out for it. She gathered everything she needed and brought it all into her bathroom and shut the door and started up the shower. 

After Die had put the bucket where she had said he decided that he would clean the brushes as well, hoping to help her out. He took the blazer off and hung it on the back of the chair. He turned back around looked around the sink and saw a special soap for the brushes and he smiled taking his rings off and shoving his bracelets up his arms more after rolling up his sleeves and started to take the brushes out, using the soap and his hands to clean all the brushes until the water ran clear. He then worked on the bucket. Once he was sure things were done, he grabbed a towel and started to dry the brushes for her and set them out to the side as he turned the bucket upside down in the other side of the sink to let that dry out. When he was finished, he dried his hand and put his rings back on, adjusting the bracelets and decided to go back upstairs to look at the painting she was working on and maybe trying to see if she had any other’s up there. 

Hikari stepped out of the shower and started to dry off and put on her undergarments before wiping the mirror off and starting in on her hair to dry it. It took a bit longer without Die helping but that was fine. Once it was dry she started to curl it into big curls before brushing her hand through them to make it more wavy and bouncy. The top part of her hair she teased out a bit and curled it back to pin behind her head. She then turned and started in on her makeup, just doing a smoky eye and red lipstick. Once that was all done she turned around and grabbed her dress. It was long in the back and shorter in the front. It was a crimson red and a bit frilly at the ends with long sleeves. She then put her contacts in and then pulled on a pair of black leggings. She looked herself over once and smiled, very proud at how she looked, excitement in her eyes as to what Die’s reaction would be. 

She walked out and grabbed a small handbag and put what she needed into it and started to hunt down Die. She didn’t have to look long as she found him in her studio snooping around at all the paintings she had out. 

“Nosy little bastard aren’t you” she said jokingly and he jumped back and turned around, looking like he was caught doing something wrong. 

“I..I was just...” She started to laugh more and shake her head. 

“They’re out there for a reason, if I didn’t want anyone seeing them, I’d lock them away” she said, leaning against the door, Die looked relieved as he started to laugh a bit too. He finally took her in and she could see his breath catch. The dress was perfect for her and he had to think that she had to of went out and had it made especially for her. 

“Well don’t you clean up nice” he said finally, walking up to her and checking her out a bit more. She blushed and bowed her head. 

“Thanks” she said before her head was lifted up by two fingers under her chin. 

“Though it’s not hard for you, you’d look good in anything” he said with a wink before walking out of the room. “I’ll drive this time” he said and she nodded, following behind him, trying to steady her breathing, very happy at the reaction she got out of him. 

She met him in the walkway as he was putting his boots on. She sat down and did the same, this time it was a pair of thigh high suede boots. Die watched her through his hair as he laced up his boots, taking in the sight of her legs and holding back the urge to reach out to them. When they were both done, they stood up and she grabbed her keys as Die held his arm out to her, which she took with a smile as he led her out of the house and to his car. 

“So, where are you taking me? Or is it a surprise?” she asked as Die set off toward their destination. 

“It’s a surprise” he said with a smirk “Though I’m sure you’ll like it...I had to call Yana to figure it out though...My god can than woman scream, I’d love to get her and Kyo into a singing contest against each other for shits and giggles” he said and Hikari nodded. 

“Oh yea, she has some lungs on her, and the noises she can make...Yea...It’s ridiculous” she said with a laugh. 

“But, after she finished freaking out she gave me like, a whole list of things that you like and some of them got very specific” he said and Hikari rolled her eyes. 

“That’s Yana for you, I’m surprised she was able to keep her mouth shut as to where you were taking me, or even just to call and tell me what you did” she said with a laugh. 

“I may or may not have threatened her with going to the rest of the band to figure out if she had a crush on anyone and telling them” he said with a smirk and Hikari lost it, she grabbed her stomach and continued to laugh very hard.

“Dude! That’s fucking great! You are amazing” she said between laughs before she finally calmed herself down. “And for future reference, she’s obsessed with Toshiya” she finished and Die’s eyes lit up before turning to her slightly and smirking before going back to the road. 

“Thank you for that bit of information...I shall use it wisely” he said and Hikari started to laugh again. Die found at the moment though that he really liked her laugh. He had heard her laugh before, of course, but this was a full body laugh and he found it adorable and amazing. She managed to calm herself though and wiped away some tears before pulling down the sun visor and checking her makeup to make sure it didn’t run from the tears. When she was satisfied she put it back up and started to look around, finding that they were going out of the city. 

“This place isn’t, like, three hours away is it?” she asked and he shook his head. 

“Nah, it’s a smaller place but very good, you’re going to love it” he said and she nodded. 

“Or are you taking me out into the middle of nowhere just to kill me and dump my body?” 

“Damn, you figured out my plan, guess I'll just have to off you now” he said with a laugh and she laughed as well. 

“I’m so glad your fine with my dark sense of humor, it scares a lot of people” she said and Die shrugged. 

“When you’ve known Kyo for a good portion of your life you find that it doesn’t phase you anymore” he said “And besides, if people can’t joke about it they’re lame” he said with a smile and she nods. 

About half an hour later Die pulled onto a side road that led into a smaller town that she really didn’t know about. She started to look around and take everything in. It looked as though the place hadn’t left the 50’s but she could see a good few of the shops and restaurants were definitely their time. 

“This place is cool” 

“Yea, not many people know about it...Karou found it randomly actually, he got us lost on the way somewhere back when we first started out” he said as he pulled up to a restaurant that looked to be just a bit fancier than she had thought of, but that was just on the outside. He parked the car and got out, Hikari following. “It took us a bit to find the place again but now we come here every once in a while” he said as he held his arm out again and she took it, looking the place over one more time before going inside. 

He walked up to the hostess and she smiled at them. 

“Two for Andou” he said. She checked the sheet and nodded with a smile before leading them to a table off to the side and setting out menus before walking off. 

“It’s like, really weird hearing you use your actual name for some reason. Guess I'm just so used to you being referred to as Die” she said with a laugh. 

“Yea, not many people remember what my real name is, it helps with booking hotels and things to make sure the crazier fans don’t try and attack us or stalk us” he said as he picked up the menu. Hikari nodded and picked hers up as well an looked it over, finding that it was Italian and she couldn’t keep the smile off of her face. 

“I’m gonna have to remember to thank Yana for helping” she said trying to find what she normally got when they went to their normal Italian place. Though this place seemed way more authentic than their normal one and she was excited about that, almost wanting to try everything. 

“Yea, she did seem to mention that this was your all-time favorite. I was glad actually because this place is really awesome” he said and she nodded, still not sure what she wanted to get, being torn between getting her normal or trying something else. 

A waiter appeared then and smiled at the two. 

“Do you know what you would like to drink?” he asked and Die spoke up. 

“Bottle of red and a couple glasses of water” he said before looking to Hikari who nodded with a smile. The waiter smiled then and left. 

“Someone did their research” she said then with a smirk and he let out a laugh. 

“It was just fate that I also like red, so, that wasn’t too hard” he said and she nodded, finally figuring out what she wanted. The waiter came back with the wine and a couple glasses and poured them both glasses before another came by with their waters and left. 

“Have you had a chance to look over the menu?” he asked and they both nodded and ordered. He wrote it down with a smile and bowed before walking off to put the order in. 

Hikari reached for her glass and Die did too and held it out. 

“To meeting your idols?” he said and she smiled and nodded and clinked her glass against his before they both took a drink. “So, are you ready for the show this weekend?” he asked and she shrugged. 

“Maybe? I mean, like I said, we’re indecisive, it took us a good month to actually choose the setlist for the Halloween show, like, if it were up to us we would have done all of Gauze and Macabre, but we didn’t have all that time so it was basically...We had ones for sure we wanted to play no matter what, after that we threw them all into a hat and pulled random songs” she said with a laugh. “I feel we’re gonna have to do that as well for this show. We have half a set list, we couldn’t decide on the other half Monday. We practice tomorrow though so, hopefully we’ll be able to finish it and go through it a couple times” she said and Die laughed. 

“I definitely know how that goes” he said, taking another drink. 

Their food arrived soon after that. 

“So, tell me a bit more about yourself, besides being in a band and a painter” he said and she swallowed her bite and took a drink before answering. 

“Well, there’s really not much more than that, at least those are the interesting things, everything else was pretty normal” she said. 

“Oh come on, what were you like in school? How’d you get into music and art, those type of things” he said with a smile and she let out a laugh. 

“Alright, well, I got into music at a young age, I’d say about five or so when it was required to take recorder lessons, I really took to that. I begged my parents to let me play more instruments so I chose the piano and violin” she said, taking a bite and swallowing. “Did that for a while then in high school my friends decided they wanted to start a band. I originally played keyboard but the guitarist they had was an asshole, to say the least, and they kicked him out. Well, I was offered up to try...Only because I was the only other one in the band that played a stringed instrument....And I’m sure you know, the violin is nothing like the guitar” she said with a laugh and he laughed as well and nodded. 

“I tried to play and Sugizo tried to teach me, and yea...I managed, but there was no way I was making it sound good” he said as he continued to eat. She took another couple bites before continuing. 

“So, I picked up the guitar and well, apparently I’m a natural” she said with a shrug. 

“Did that band get anywhere?” 

“No, it lasted all the way until we graduated. We wanted to keep it going but we all had collage and what not and it just didn’t work” she said, taking another bite. 

“What did you do in collage? I take it something to do with art?” 

“Yea, got my art degree and was a teacher for about five years” she said. He looked up from his plate, eyes wide. 

“A teacher? Wow” she let out a laugh and nodded. 

“Yea, an art teacher in collage none the less, it was the only place that would hire me with my hair, I refused to dye it a normal color just for a job” she said and he nodded. 

“This may be like a stupid question, and I think I may know the answer, but why red?” 

She gave him a look then before smiling. 

“Believe it or not, it wasn’t you, it’s actually my favorite color and I did it on a dare. I was dared to dye my hair a crazy bright color and I chose red, it just so happened you had red hair at the same time” she said taking a drink. “After I did it though I found that I liked it and that it looked good on me so I kept it” 

“What’s your normal hair color?” 

“Blond....About the color of yours now actually” she said and he nodded. 

“That I can’t imagine” he said and she pulled out her phone and started to go through her pictures before finding one of her in the summer before high school. She had long blond hair and was wearing a pair of high-waisted stonewash jeans with holes in the knees, converse, and a Black Sabbath crop top. He took the phone and looked it over and smiled. 

“Hello 80’s” he said before handing it back. “Doesn’t seem like much has changed, clothing wise” he said and she nodded. 

“Just added a bit more leather to the mix” she said with a laugh. “How about you, how did you get into music?” 

“Watching my favorite band...Though something tells me that you already knew that” he said tapping the tattoo on her hand with a smirk. She just shrugged and took another bite. 

“I was trying to be polite and not make it look like I’ve read and watched all of your interviews and let you tell things” she said with a laugh after she swallowed what she had. Die laughed as well and nodded in agreement. 

“Thank you for that” he said. 

“But unlike the interviewers I can ask the questions their afraid to ask and ask you to go deeper into some of the stories, if you're up for it, I don’t want to make you uncomfortable or anything” she said and he shook his head. 

“No, that’s totally fine, I mean, we are trying to actually get to know each other” he said, finishing his glass and pouring another then topping off Hikari’s as well. She then took a drink before finishing off her food, along with his as well. 

The waiter came back and took their plates and asked about dessert and he shook his head and just asked for the check. 

“No dessert?” she asked then, taking a drink and he smiled then. 

“As much as I love their dessert, I have another place planned for that” he said and an eyebrow rose in curiosity. 

“You’re pulling out all the stops tonight aren’t you?” she stated and he smiled bigger. 

“Of course” he said as the check was presented to him and he pulled out his card and handed everything back to the waiter. 

“I’m very curious where you're going to take me now, I don’t like very many sweet things so...” she said and he nodded. 

“Yea, Yana made that very clear” he said as he took the book back and signed before he finished his glass and she did as well and stood up and followed him back out to his car. They got in and Die took off down the street again and out of the town and back to where they were from, but he drove past all of that and further. 

“You seriously don’t have to drive all over the place for this” 

“I know, but I want to” he said with a smile and looked at her and she just smiled and turned to look out the window. 

A bit later they pulled up to a fair just as all of the lights turned on on all the rides. Hikari’s eyes lit up when she saw where they were. 

“No fucking way!!” she said, getting really excited now. “Yana definitely deserves a huge thing of chocolate after this” she said and turned to Die as he parked. He laughed, loving seeing her so excited. They got out at the same time and she looked around. 

“I take it you know what we’re getting now” he said as they walked up to the entrance and Die paid for their entrance and tickets between the two of them. 

“I haven’t had funnel cakes in forever!” she said, jumping up and down now, not caring that she’s 43 and getting excited over funnel cake. 

“You are too adorable” he said as he led them toward the funnel cake stand. As they waited in line Hikari pulled out her phone and pulled him closer and took a selfie of them with the lit up Ferris wheel behind them. He grabbed her phone then and sent the picture to himself before slipping it back into her purse. “Did you want to ride any of the rides or play some games?” he asked then and she nodded. 

“Games, yes, rides no...I don’t trust rides that have been folded up for a good portion of the year in some warehouse or field and only done slight maintenance and security checks on them before putting them out” she shuddered and Die nodded, it clear that he didn’t exactly think of that. 

“Guess I’m never going on fair rides again” he said with a laugh. “Not even the Ferris Wheel?” 

“I’m afraid of heights, unless you want to walk me through a panic attack to end the night” she said as they moved forward a bit more. 

“So, no skydiving for a second date?” he joked and she nodded. 

“You wouldn’t even be able to get me to the edge of the plane” she said. 

“Are you afraid of flying as well?” 

“Kinda, but I can handle it if I’m not sitting by the window and I have a lot of distractions” 

“Gotchya” he said. They were the next customers and he walked up and ordered two funnel cakes and went off to the side where there were tables and he set down, Hikari following and sitting across from him as he slid her, her plate to which she smiled big and tore off a piece and put it into her mouth, eyes closing as she let out a small moan at how good it was. 

“My god! I’ve missed this” she said as she took another piece. Die kept his eyes on her as she ate, his mind definitely going south at the noises she was making. He mentally shook his head and started in on his. 

They ate in silence, watching random kids run by them with some sort of overstuffed animal. When they finished they threw their stuff away and headed toward where the games are. 

“I think I’m going to win you something” said Hikari with a smile as she started to scope out what the prizes were, she found the perfect one and walked up to it and put her tickets down. It was a bottle knock down game. She got five tries and managed to knock all of them down without a problem. She smiled then and turned to Die. 

“Close your eyes” she said and he gave her a look but he did as she turned back to the guy and pointed to a huge snake. He smiled and handed it to her and she turned back to Die and put it around his neck. He opened his eyes then and looked down and smiled. 

“I should have known” he said as he picked the head up and looked it over. “It is cute” he said. “My turn” he said as he went to another booth. This one was darts and balloons, which he managed to win as well and he did the same thing with her. She smiled and closed her eyes and waited to see what he was going to get her. “Hold your hands out” he said and she did and something was set in them. She opened her eyes and saw a huge penguin sitting there and she smiled. 

“Holy fuck it’s adorable!” she said as she looked it over and hugged it. “It’s going to freak the fuck out of Aki! It's coming with us on tour, It's going to sit beside his drum set and it’s going to be great!” she said and Die gave her a confused look. “Aki is afraid of penguins, for some reason....I’m gonna get to practice before him and set it up” she said, her eyes glowing with mischief and he laughed. 

“You’re going to record this right? I need to see it” he said and she gave him a look that said obviously. He smiled and put his arm around her and gave her a side hug as they started to head toward the exit. 

When they got to Die’s car they put their stuffed animals into the backseat and Die started them on their way home. 

“So, did I do good?” he asked and she smiled big and nodded. 

“Of course! Though I have a feeling that you can’t do anything wrong if you put your mind to it” she said and he just shrugged. 

“I’m sure I could find a couple people that would tell you otherwise” he said jokingly, but she could tell that it wasn’t fully a joke. 

“Fuck whoever told you otherwise” she said and Die let out a small laugh at that. 

“Yea” he said as the tension seemed to rise a bit. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to like...Bring down the mood” she said, laughing nervously and he shrugged. 

“It’s in the past, it’s whatever...And like you said, fuck them” he said and she nodded, though she still felt bad for bringing up something that made him uncomfortable. The feeling passed though after a couple minutes and HIkari was happy for that. “So, when do you practice tomorrow?” he asked after a bit of silence. 

“Noon, we’ll go til five probably, gotta work through some things before the concert Friday” she said and he nodded. 

“What time do you go on?” 

“Nine, I’ll text you the address” she said as she pulled out her phone and sent it to him. 

“Or I could just meet you at your place and we drive together?” he suggested. 

“We could do that, though I want my outfit to be a surprise, so...No showing up early” she said with a smile and he pouted. 

“If you insist” he said with a huff but he smiled after. 

“Trust me...You’ll want this to be a surprise” she said with a smirk and he sat up straighter. 

“Oh really? I can’t wait then” he said and she laughed. 

“Me either” she said. 

They pulled up to her house and she got out of the car, Die getting out as well and grabbing the penguin then following her to the front porch. 

“I would ask if you wanted to come in, but I should probably try and finish what I was working on today and then get a good night sleep” she said and he nodded. 

“Yea, I have some emails and things that I need to get out, I also have some ideas for songs that I want to send to Karou and Kyo” he said and she nodded. He reached out then and pulled her into a hug. 

“I had a really good time, thank you” she said. 

“I did too, we’ll have to do it again, soon” he said pulling back just a bit and smiling at her before leaning in again and gave her a small kiss before pulling back. She leaned into it, wanting more but he pulled back before she could try and take it any further, though she knew it was probably for the best. She leaned back and smiled at him, the shock not setting in yet, but she knew it would once everything catches up to her. “Have a good night” he said before backing up completely and walking back to his car. She pulled her keys out and unlocked the door and stepped in. 

As soon as the door shut she let out a little scream and did a bit of a happy dance before pulling out her phone. 

‘You deserve all the candy in the world, you genius bitch’ she sent it out to Yana before walking in completely and sitting down on the steps to take her shoes off. Her phone buzzed and she put her boots off to the side and grabbed her phone. 

‘You can start tomorrow. How was the date?’ 

‘I may, haha. It went great. He kissed me!’ 

‘Ahhhhhhhh’ ‘How was it?’ ‘was it everything you dreamt about?’ 

‘And more. 🙂 I’ll see you tomorrow’ 

She stood up then and put her jacket and purse by the door on the table and then headed up the stairs to get ready for bed.


	3. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here’s the playlist in order that they played them, though I’ll only touch on certain ones. The ones I’m touching on are ‘Infection’ for the intro song that goes into The Blood Legion. A couple songs later will be ‘The Witching Hour’ then ‘Prayers’ ‘Scarlet’ ‘Blood’ and then a couple songs later ‘Sexual Hallucination’ https://open.spotify.com/user/1271673179/playlist/3wtymq9XaMc4rAIPNQqHQA?si=ydZyOLNtQZigdMXhGYDycw

Hikari woke up the next morning and reached out and grabbed her glasses and put them on before checking her phone. She saw a message from Die and smiled. 

‘Good morning Darling, have fun at practice’ it said. She put the phone back down and rolled out of bed to get ready, though she didn’t need to do much. She threw on a pair of tights and an oversized sweater and braided her hair, leaving the shorter part out of it. She checked the time and saw that she had enough time to get to the practice space and set up the penguin at Aki’s drum set. 

She walked into the practice space and went straight for Aki’s drum set and made sure to set the penguin on the stool. She stepped back and smirked as she took her phone out and took a picture and sent it to Die. She then walked over to the couch and sat down, pulling out a notebook then setting up her phone to record when Aki walked in. Yana and Hitoshi walked in and stopped when they saw the penguin at Aki’s kit then started laughing. 

“Where’d you get the penguin?” asked Hitoshi. 

“Die won it for me last night” she said and Yana smiled and ran over to her and sat down. 

“You’re going to tell me all about it!” she said, bouncing up and down. 

“I’ll watch out for Aki” said Hitoshi, not really wanting to hear the details of the date. 

Hikari started to tell Yana everything and Yana was hanging on every word. She was about ready to get to the end of the night when Hitoshi came back in with Rei. 

“He’s coming down the hall” said Hitoshi with a smile and Hikari set up her phone and waited. Aki walked in, all smiles. 

“Hey guys, how was....” he had stopped mid-sentence when he saw the penguin sitting at his kit before he jumped back with a small yelp, pushing himself against the wall. “What the fuck is that?!” he said, his voice pitched just a bit higher than normal, everyone attempting to not outright laugh, yet. 

“It’s a penguin....Have you never seen a penguin?” asked Rei, not doing very good at not laughing. 

“I know what the fuck it is...What is it doing sitting behind my drums?!” 

“He wants to be your friend” said Hikari, still recording everything. 

“Fuck that” he said “Take it away...Please” he said, still trying to become one with the wall. 

“You hurt Reginald’s feelings” said Yana as she stood up and walked over to the kit and took the penguin and hugged it to her chest. 

“Hurt his feelings very bad” added Hikari as she stopped recording and took the penguin from Yana and set it in the spot she was just sitting. Everyone started laughing then and Aki shook his head. 

“You guys are mean” he said as he walked to his kit then and sat down, getting things ready for practice. Hikari shrugged and sent the video to Die. 

“But you love us” she said as she walked to her guitar and plugged it in before tuning up and getting ready for practice as well. 

Practice went by with no problems, they did have to stop randomly though to figure out exactly what they wanted to play the next night and also work on random parts of the songs. By the end of it they had a final playlist and they had all the kinks worked out for tomorrow. Hikari decided to bring her guitar home though and do some more practicing. They all left at the same time and all of them stopped when they saw Die leaning against her car. 

“I don’t think I’m ever going to get used to this” said Hitoshi with a wave to Die before heading toward his car. Yana gave her a look before hugging her and walking off, waving to Die as well. Everyone else said their goodbye’s and waved before leaving as well. She walked up to him with a smile and leaned her case against her car. 

“Just couldn’t get enough, I take it?” she said and he shrugged. 

“Something like that. I was actually in the neighborhood, Shinya needed new heads for his drums and sticks and I decided that I’d tag along and get some things as well. On the way back I saw your car and figured I’d stop by and offer up getting some dinner and hanging out a bit more?” he suggested and Hikari smiled and nodded. 

“Sounds good” she said as she took her keys out and unlocked her door, putting her guitar and the penguin into the back seat before getting in herself, Die following. 

When she pulled out of the parking lot she looked over to Die. 

“Did you have anything in mind? Also...Did Shinya actually drive or is your car somewhere?” 

“Shinya picked me up actually, as for the food, maybe take out?” 

“Sounds good to me. Is your apartment far? I can drop you off after everything if you want?” 

“Yea, I’m not too far from your place actually” he said and she nodded and headed toward her favorite take out place. 

“Or, was this you trying to find a way to stay the night to get a sneak peek at my outfit for tomorrow?” she said with a smirk and he let out a laugh. 

“I would never!” he said. 

“I’m pretty sure that was avoidance of the question” she said and he gave her a look but didn’t say anything. 

They picked up their food and headed back to Hikari’s place after that and settled everything in the living room. She left Die to get comfortable as she came back with a couple beers for them, which he accepted with a thank you. 

“So, wanna watch a movie or something? Or just talk?” she asked. 

“Movie sounds good actually” he said as she grabbed her food and sat down on the couch and pulled her legs under her. 

“Great, have at it” she said motioning toward a huge bookshelf full of Blu-Rays. He looked over and his eyebrows rose. 

“And I thought Kyo had a crazy collection” he said as he stood up and walked over to the shelf and look over the selection before picking something he’d already seen and held it up. She smiled and put her food down before walking over and taking it and turning everything on and getting things ready while Die went back to the couch and got his food ready and got comfortable. Once that was set up she went to the kitchen and brought out more beer and set that down before getting comfortable and starting up the movie. 

Halfway through the movie Hikari had finished her food and beer and had passed out on Die’s shoulder, which Die soon followed. At some point they had shifted to where Die was laying on his back and Hikari was on top of him, his arms around her and her head on his chest. It was Die who woke up first to his phone vibrating. He was confused at first as to why he couldn't move but one look down told him why and he couldn’t help but smile at the sight. Hikari’s red hair splayed out along his chest and off the side of the couch, her face completely peaceful, her glasses askew on her face. He managed to get his phone out of his pocket and check the notification, it was a text from Karou about one of the songs they were working on and he decided to answer him later, right now he needed a picture of a sleeping Hikari. He opened his camera and took a couple pictures before setting his phone of the floor. He wanted to let her sleep but he knew that she should probably sleep in a real bed and that he needed to get back to his place. He checked the time and saw that it was almost two in the morning. 

“Well shit” he said with a laugh as he reached down and pushed her hair out of her face and touched her shoulder, shaking it a bit to try and wake her. The second shake had her stirring a bit, but all she did was cuddle closer to him, they’re legs tangling more. “Kari” he whispered as he shook her again, all she did was mumbled something and shift again, causing her knee to brush right over the crotch of his pants and his breath hitched as he stopped moving for a second. When he had gotten himself a bit under control again he tried to wake her again. “Hikari, wake up” he said, shaking her a bit harder. She mumbled something else and shifted higher up his body, her hand going to his hair and staying there. 

“Die” she breathed out, her hand tightening in his hair before settling again. It took all Die had to not moan at all the friction, he liked it of course, but he knew he had to wake her up and stop her from trying to continue, the mention of his name though, he definitely wanted to hear her say it again in exactly that tone of voice. He now figured being gentle wasn’t doing the job so he took a breath and shook her violently. This got her to wake up though. She opened her eyes and looked around, confused as to where she was, that was until she looked up and saw Die looking down at her. She let out a small scream then and threw herself off of him and onto the floor. “Oh my god! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to fall asleep on you” she said as she sat up and looked up to him, fixing her glasses, as he sat up a bit and looked at her over the side of the couch, a smile on his lips. 

“I didn’t mind...It was nice” he said and she blushed. “Sounded like you were having a good dream though...Care to enlighten me?” he asked then and her blush got deeper as she hid behind her hair. 

“I’m good” she said as she started to remember what exactly was happening in the dream. Die let out a small laugh and reached down to her and grabbed her hand and pulled her up and back onto the couch to sit on his lap. He put his arms around her and moved her hair out of her face. 

“With a reaction like that, I’m definitely more curious” he said and she let out a small laugh and shook her head. He let out a small laugh then and took her head in his hand and turned her face to his and pushed her glasses up and leaned in before connecting their lips. He wasn’t planning on going further, though he wanted to. It took her moment to realize what was happening and when she did, she kissed back, her heart speeding up as her stomach did a couple flip flops. He pulled back though and put her glasses back on her nose and smiled at her. “You’re too adorable” he said before leaning all the way back and looking at the time on the cable box. “And I do believe it’s time for me to go” he said. Hikari looked to the clock and sighed. 

“I’m not gonna make you go home this late, and I really don’t want to drive so, I guess you can stay here” she said “But no peeking at my outfit!” she said and Die let out a laugh. 

“I promise, and are you sure, I can easily get a cab” he said and she shook her head. 

“No, like I said, it’ll be easier anyway seeing as your coming to the show” she said as she stood up and started to gather the trash and brought it back to the kitchen to throw it away, Die following with the rest. Once that was done they headed back into the living room and Hikari started shutting everything off before heading up the stairs, making sure everything was locked before doing so. “So, I have a guest bedroom but, it’s a bit preoccupied at the moment...” she said with a small laugh “It’s practically a supply closet now, so, I know this is going to be oh so bold, but, seeing as we already kind of slept next to each other I don’t see the harm in sharing a bed, we’re both adults” she said and Die nodded, not being able to keep the smirk off his face. 

When they walked into her room he took another look around and shook his head at all of the posters of him and his band staring back at him. 

“Don’t think I can manage knowing my band are glaring at me” he joked and she looked around and groaned before putting her head in her hands. 

“Yea...Sorry” she said as she walked to her closet and came back with a pair of pajama pants that were his size. 

“It’s all good, I just think it’s great...Though I definitely don’t miss that outfit” he said pointing to the one in the corner and she laughed. 

“Yea, it seemed like it was a bitch to get in and out of” she said and he nodded as he took the pants and headed to the bathroom while Hikari went back into the closet and changed into a pair of pajama pants as well and a crop top before pulling the blankets back and getting everything ready for bed. When Die walked out she looked him over before going into the restroom herself, really liking seeing him in her clothes. She did her nightly routine and came back out to see Die already under the covers, reading through a book that she had on her bedside table. She took the scene in with a smile, finding that she really wouldn’t mind if that became the new norm. She shook that thought from her head though and walked to the bed and crawled in as well, taking off her glasses and setting them on the other table beside her bed. 

“See something interesting?” she asked then and he looked up and laughed before putting it back down. 

“You read War and Peace before bed? Your crazy” he said as he slid down further and settled in and she did the same before turning off the light. 

“Yes, it puts me to sleep” she said and settled in as well. She let out a laugh then. 

“What?” 

“I never, in a million years would ever believe that at some point in my life I’d have you sleeping in my bed” she said and he let out a laugh as well. 

“Just goes to show you shouldn’t give up on your dreams” he said and she nodded before closing her eyes and willing herself to try and sleep. She then felt one of Die’s arms go around her waist and pulled her closer. 

“I like to cuddle” was all he said before closing his eyes as well, both falling asleep fairly quick. 

When they woke up in the morning it was to a mass of red hair in his face and it took him a moment to realize that he was in Hikari’s room and he didn’t transport back in time. He reached up and gathered it gently pushed it away, though he had a better idea once he realized that she wasn’t awake then. He leaned up on his elbow and took the longest part of her hair and dangled it over her nose lightly and he tried to hold back his laughter. She reached up to swat away what was touching her nose and she mumbled something, but when it kept coming she growled and reached out and grabbed Die’s hand. 

“Do you really think you’re the first one to try and wake me up with my hair?” she said before opening her eyes and turning toward him with a smile. “I slept with Yana the first couple years we were in a band...That was her thing” she said as she let go of his hand and rolled onto her back and stretched. Die took the opportunity to shift and put his hands on either side of her shoulders and leaned over her, his hair falling around them, blocking out the light from the window. 

“I couldn’t help myself” he said with a smirk as he leaned down and gave her a quick kiss. Hikari had other plans however as she reached up and pulled him down and kissed him again, this time running a tongue across his bottom lip before biting. This caused him to gasp and her tongue darted into his mouth, which his met hers automatically. He shifted his weight onto one hand and brought the other to the back of her head and tilted it back a bit so he could get deeper. She let out a moan, not believing that she was actually kissing Die and she intended to make it last, or so she thought. Die pulled back after a bit, giving her one last kiss before opening his eyes and looking her over. “How many fantasies did I just fulfill for you?” he asked with a smirk and she let out a small laugh. 

“A few” she said with a shrug and he leaned in again and kissed her quickly. 

“Any way I’ll actually hear about these fantasies?” he asked as he started to trail kisses down her cheek and to her neck, where he started to nip lightly. She moved her head to the side to give him more access. 

“I’m not exactly sure...You’ll just have to guess” she breathed out as she arched a bit when he found the spot right at her collarbone. 

“Guessing is one of my strong suits” he said then and started to trail kisses to the other side of her neck while her hands came down and started to run over his chest and stopped at his hips. He messed around with her neck a bit more, making sure to not leave any marks before he finally came back up and kissed her deep again before pulling back. “And as much as I’d love to continue this, I have a feeling that you need to get ready and possibly have a practice to get to” he said and she let out a groan and dropped her arms. 

“Spoil sport” she said, but she knew he was right. She needed to gather all of her things. She decided that she would get ready in the dressing room at the venue, it would be easier to hide her outfit that way. 

“Not all the time” he said, giving her one more kiss before getting up and taking over the bathroom first. She took that time to get up and went to her closet to pull out a covering that she normally used for her dresses and started to gather her outfit for the night, adding the accessories to a small pouch in the front and then dressed in a pair of jeans and a plain shirt. She hung the outfit on the back of the door just as Die came out. He looked it over and smirked. “Is that it?” 

“Maybe...” she said as she grabbed it and took it with her to the bathroom to discourage him from taking a peek. 

After they were both ready Hikari drove them to Die’s place so he could change and do the rest of his morning routine and get ready for the night as well. As Die was getting ready Toshiya had showed up and smiled at seeing Hikari there and gave her a hug. 

“Hey! What are you doing here?” he asked and she smiled, hugging him back. 

“Waiting on Die, he had to crash at my place last night....Don’t give me that look, nothing happened....He stayed over but he didn’t have clothes so I took him here to get ready, apparently he wanted to come to practice with me” she said and Toshiya nodded. 

“Slight problem with joining you at practice though, Kaoru called a meeting, don’t worry though it’ll be done before the concert tonight, I made sure of that” he said “Speaking of...Yana...She seeing anyone, by any chance?” he asked then and Hikari smiled big. 

“As it turns out she isn’t...Why do you ask?” 

“Oh...Just wondering” he said and Hikari nodded, not believing that was the whole reason he was asking but she didn’t push any further as Die came out dressed up just a bit more than normal and Toshiya whistled. “Looking good dude...Anyone you're trying to impress?” he asked with a smirk and he shrugged. 

“Maybe...Wait...What are you doing here?” he asked confused. 

“I have come to kidnap you, Karou called a last minute meeting...It’ll be done by the time the concert comes around though” he said and Die sighed and nodded. 

“I guess I’ll see you tonight” he said as he leaned in and gave her a kiss. Toshiya practically squealing had them pulling apart and laughing. 

“See you tonight, have fun you two” she said as he left the apartment and went back to her car and headed to the practice space. 

When she got to the practice space everyone was already there and set up. She walked in and they looked around. 

“No Die?” asked Yana and Hikari shook her head. 

“Karou called a last minute meeting, they’ll be there tonight though...Oh Yana...Remind me to tell you something after practice...You’ll love it” she said with a smirk and walked to her guitar. 

“Uh, you're going to tell me now” she said and Hikari turned on her guitar and shook her head before starting into their first song. Yana glared at her but turned to the microphone and started in on the song as well. They practiced all the way up to dinner time. They loaded in all of their equipment and headed to the venue, letting the roadies take their stuff in and set it up while they went to get some dinner before soundcheck and get ready. 

Hikari took the bag that had her outfit in it and went to one of the stalls in the bathroom to get ready, Yana following behind her. 

“Alright bitch, spill” she said with a smile and Hikari let out a laugh. 

“Let’s just say a little birdie was asking about you” she said before taking off her glasses and pulling out her contact case and putting in her contacts before taking her clothes off an getting into the outfit. 

“And that little birdie is?....” She tried to push and Hikari just smiled. 

“For me to know and for you to find out” she said and Yana let out a frustrated growl but started to get ready as well. When they finished getting dressed, they headed back to the dressing room and started in on their makeup. Hikari choosing to line her left eye thick and dark before taking her finger and smearing the eyeliner on her left eye so it went down her face. She did her other eye with thin eyeliner and multiple shades of red eyeshadow and then started to spike her hair up and straighten the rest. Once everyone was finished, they all threw on robes to cover exactly what they were wearing and went out to do the soundcheck, seeing Die, Toshiya, and Kyo already there at the bar, talking to the security guards. 

They went through the whole process of setting everything up, it took them a bit longer though because of some technical issues with one of the monitors and the microphones. Die, Toshiya, and Kyo came over then. 

“Problems?” asked Kyo and Hikari laughed. 

“Glad we’re finding them now” she said as she stepped around her monitor to get closer to the edge of the stage to talk, Yana made her way over as well and sat down. 

“Loving the robes” said Toshiya and Yana smiled. 

“They won’t be on long though, it’s just for the first couple songs” she said. 

“Oh, we get a strip show as well?” asked Die, raising his eyebrows suggestively and both Hikari and Yana laughed. 

“Just a bit” said Yana. One of the sound guys then pointed to HIkari, letting her know that they were ready to check her monitor. She backed up then and grabbed her guitar and put it on, going to her amp and setting it up again before heading to her pedal board and messing with things there before sitting up and motioning she was ready. He gave her a cue to start and as soon as she hit the first note the monitor in front of her started to spark. Her eyes went wide as she started to back up, she tripped over her pedal board though just as a part of it flew off. She fell just as the grate was going to hit her. She curled around her guitar and rolled to her side as she put her head over her hands. When it seemed like everything had calmed down, she moved her hands and looked around before sitting up. 

“Holy shit!” she said, taking her guitar off and setting it to the side as she stood up, Yana was beside her then helping just as Die came up beside her. Crew were there now to put out the small fire that had started. 

“Are you alright?” asked Die and Yana at the same time. Hikari nodded and checked herself over. 

“Dude...That was bad ass” she said with a laugh and Die gave her a weird look and Yana just shook her head. 

“Adrenaline junkie who’s afraid of heights...” said Yana with an eyeroll as she walked away, laughing to herself. Kyo and Toshiya were there now. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a monitor explode like that” said Kyo, daring to get a bit closer to it to check it out. Toshiya reached out to him then and pulled him back. 

“Don’t know if it’s gonna explode again” said Toshiya and Kyo nodded and turned around. 

“It’s going to be about an hour before we can get this fixed. We’ll get you when we think it’s ready” said one of the technicians and everyone nodded and headed back to the dressing rooms to chill. 

“Are you sure you’re alright?” asked Die again as they sat down on the couch, Hikari taking care to keep the robe closed so he couldn’t see the outfit. 

“Yea, just surprised is all, it was pretty awesome to watch” she said with a laugh and Die shook his head. 

They managed to fix all the problems and the band were able to do soundcheck no problem before the rest of the bands showed up seeing as they were the headliner. Everyone was at the bar, watching the other bands and getting pumped up for their set. 

“So, what should we expect?” asked Kyo then and HItoshi just smiled. 

“You’ll see” he said and Kyo let out a huff and glared but didn’t say anything else. When they had ten minutes left they all headed back to the dressing room, leaving the others by the bar, even though Die and Toshiya made their way to the front while everyone had left to go get more to drink. 

In the dressing room, everyone stood in the middle of the room in a circle, all holding a shot glass. 

“Let’s do this!” screamed Yana and everyone screamed as well and took their shot and walked out toward the stage. 

The lights had gone out and the beginnings of an intro song came on as everyone grabbed their instruments and waited to go on. Aki first, then Hitoshi, Rei, then Hikari, each taking their places. Just as the song came to a close Yana walked out and Hitoshi and Hikari hit their first notes as Yana jumped onto the main riser and threw her hands out. Everyone cheered as she went into the first song. 

“Tonight, it feels like a good day to die...” she sang. As the song progressed everyone was swaying along, the band getting into it. When the song started to ramp up Hikari started jumping up and down before getting into a deep stance. There was a pause in the music. “You are my blood legion, my faith” at that Hikari flipped her guitar around herself, caught it and hit a note along with the rest of the band as the song got heavier as everyone started to headbang. A bit through that everyone ran to their mics as Hikari and Hitoshi started to do backup vocals until eventually fading out, just leaving Yana singing. Hikari turned then and went to the drum riser and took a glass and did a shot before taking a drink of water and going into their next song. 

A couple of songs later had everyone on their own risers, Hikari and Rei dancing to the beat of the song. 

“I can see the way you look at me, you can’t see beyond the veil, I can tell the way you run from me, I’m not your perfect fairy tale” she sang as the beat picked up again and Hikari jumped down and started to dance her way across the stage. When the song ended everyone handed off their instruments and went backstage, coming back a minute later with the robes gone. Hikari was wearing a pair of black knee-high boots with garters attached that went up under the leather miniskirt she was wearing. The top was nothing but straps wrapped around her torso in a half corset with two crossing straps around her stomach. On her arms were more straps, crisscrossed all the way down her arms and stopping at her wrists. 

Die, Toshiya, and Kyo stood in the front and as soon as the lights went out Die couldn’t help but smile as he saw the band come out one by one. It had been a while since he was actually front row at a concert, he had gotten so used to putting them on that it was like a new kind of experience, knowing exactly what went on to put one on. As soon as the lights went on and the first song came on Die’s eyes went right to Hikari, hoping that the robe would have been gone but he guessed he’d just have to wait. Every once in a while his eyes would travel to the rest of the band, taking them all in, but he just couldn’t seem to keep his eyes off of Hikari, knowing how crazy she went when she had performed as him he was sure she’d get even more crazy with her own songs. At the guitar flip he smiled and Toshiya let out a laugh at Die’s expression. They continued to watch and enjoy the music, it was quite entertaining. When they all went off stage for a second Die had thought something had happened, but he really should have known better seeing as they had done the exact same thing randomly through their concerts. When they came back out Die’s jaw about dropped at Hikari’s outfit and he could hear Kyo and Toshiya start to laugh. Toshiya reached over and shut Die’s mouth for him before turning back to watching Yana. 

They started into the next song and Hikari looked down to see Die’s reaction and she couldn’t help but laugh and wink at him before going to the microphone to sing backups, or more like scream, which had everyone surprised that she could manage it as well. They finished out that song and went straight into another, which had everyone on their risers again, this time the stage was bathed in blue and a fan was blowing on all of them, causing Hikari’s hair to fly around her. 

“You’re everything I want, and I’m everything you need...” 

When it came to the chorus the blue light changed to red then back to blue once it was over, the whole song proceeded that way. They went through a good few more songs, Yana talking in between and hyping up the crowd. When the beginning of another song came on everyone jumped onto their risers again. 

“I hate you for all the sacrifices you made for me, I hate you for every time you ever bled for me.” she sang. As soon as the chorus came around blood started raining from the ceiling and onto the band, soaking them. Yana was jumping around and Hikari had thrown her head back, letting the blood run down her face. Once the chorus was over it stopped and Hikari flipped her hair, splashing some of the people in the front row with a laugh. The song continued that way until it came to the solo before the last time through the chorus. When the solo ended Hikari brought her guitar to her face and licked up the fretboard before going back into playing and finishing out the song. 

Upon seeing the blood Die and Toshiya’s eyes went wide as they tried to get away from getting splashed, but that didn’t exactly work. 

“I’ve made you guys pour things a lot worse than blood on you for videos and your shying away from that?” asked Kyo with a smirk that caused the two to jump, not realizing that he had shown up beside them. 

“We were prepared for it then” said Toshiya but he was still smiling and Die just nodded. When the song was over they did a little intermission, handing off instruments and cleaning off their hands but keeping the majority of the blood on them as they came back out and continued with their set. 

One of the songs they played started off slow and had a sexy feel to it that had Yana and Hikari dancing just as sexy while Yana was all over the rest of the band. During one point in the song Yana came up behind Hikari and wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her back against her, nuzzling into her neck as she sung, when she had a break in lyrics she licked her neck all the way from her shoulder up to under her neck before backing up and finishing out the song. The rest of the concert seemed to fly by after that. Them coming out for an encore to which they played Child Prey because everyone was calling for it. They all threw out things and headed backstage, all of them getting towels. 

Hikari was tailing up the back when she felt someone grab her hand and pulled her back. She was getting ready to throw a punch when she recognized the hand as Die’s. She smiled and he turned her around before pushing her against one of the walls, making sure there was no one around then leaned in and kissed her. He pulled back then and smiled at her. 

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t help myself, you look fucking amazing and I'm starting to question some things because seeing you covered in fake blood is just a little too hot” he said with a laugh and she laughed as well. 

“Well I mean, not everyone can pull it off” she said as she crossed her arms. Die laughed then and pushed himself off of the wall and she followed before making their way to the dressing room. 

When they got into the dressing room they saw the band spread out, attempting to get a good majority of the blood off of them, Toshiya was sitting next to Yana helping get a comb through her hair as she was working on getting the blood out of it. Kyo was off to the side talking to Rei. 

“Look who finally decided to join us” said Aki with a smirk and she just flicked him off and went to her station and started to gather all of her makeup and hair products. 

“Anyone sticking around?” asked Aki then. 

“I think I want to go home and get this shit off of me. It’s fun while we’re playing but after it’s just annoying” said Hikari and everyone nodded. Everyone gathered their things quickly while Hitoshi told the road crew what to do with the instruments. When everything was set everyone went their separate ways and headed home.


End file.
